Tainted Past, Tainted Future
by Montik
Summary: 500 years in the future demons have been forced into the lowest status of society, oppressed and abused with new technological devices. Kagome does her best to save them and fulfill her promise to Sesshoumaru's dying mother to keep him safe.
1. Prologe: The End of Days

[prologue] The End of Days

"Inuyasha?", a soft female voice shouted across the small lobby.

"huh?"

Kagome turned her head to see the black-haired Inuyasha sitting behind his desk in a reclining position, hands folded on his stomach and eyes closed, looking much more like he was sleeping then about to get up and help her.

"Inuyasha!", she shouted at him in exasperation.

Surprised by her sudden shout Inuyasha reached forward and clutched onto his desk to keep from falling backwards from his chair. He glared up at Kagome's precariously balanced figure atop the small ladder, where she was changing the curtains.

"What?! Are tryin' to scare me to death?"

She grinned at him, "I stopped trying after it didn't work for the first two hundred years. Now get over here and help me with these."

He stuck his toungue out at her before rising from his chair and going over to the window. He absentmindedly handed the new light blue drapes up to her as he looked out at the lamp-lit street outside.

"I don't get why you insist on changin' everything all the time. It looked fine the way it was." , Inuyasha grumbled as she slid the drapes onto the rod.

"I like it to match the season... It makes it look more 'homey' and brings more people in.", she told him in a quite and slightly exasperated voice as if she'd already told him the same thing many times.

"Well I think it's a-", he was cut off mid sentence by the quite voice of a little boy standing at the base of the stairs looking up at them with groggy eyes and a long slender tail clutched in his hands.

"Inu-san? Kagome-san?", he said groggily.

Kagome smiled down at the little figure as she carefully lowered herself down the ladder. Inuyasha watching her the whole time to make sure she didn't fall, in five hundred years she never did lose that clumsy streak.

"What are you doing up so late Toboe?", she peeked at her watch, "It's long past your bedtime, you should be tucked in with the other kids snoring away."

The little boy looked down at the ground watching his bare toes trace out a cicle on the tile floor, "I'm just worried...", he mumbled.

"About what honey?", Kagome kneeled down in front of him so she was at eyes level and put her hands on his shoulders.

"well... what if I never get adopted? What if noone wants me?", he looked into Kagome's eyes with his own tear misted ones hoping for reassurance.

Surprisingly it was not Kagome who offered reassurance, for whatever she would have said was cut off when the hanyou standing beside her scoop the boy up into his arms.

"What're you whinin' about?! Of course you'll get adopted! We just gotta get you to keep your concealment spell on and you'll find a home in no time.", though Inuyasha's voice still held it's gruff quality it was softened for the little boy's benefit. "Besides, who wouldn't want a cute kid like you.", he said a little quieter while looking the other way. Inuyasha couldn't very well have all the orphans thinking he'd gone soft.

Toboe positively beamed with happiness and threw his arms around Inuyasha's neck, "Thank you, Inu-san!", he said.

Inuyasha grinned a little though it was hidden in the boy's thick black hair. He rubbed his head affectionately, "Okay! Enough of this mushy crap! You're goin' back to bed and I gotta go check on all the other runts to make sure you didn't wake them up with your ballin'. Now put your spell back on, you gotta practice."

Toboe beamed still, knowing that this was Inuyasha's unique way of showing affection. He closed his eyes and concentrated and slowly his monkey-like tail disappeared from sight. He then yawned widely, his teeth now blunting as the spell hid tiny needle sharp fangs and leaned his head on Inuyasha's shoulder as the slow rhythmic trip up the steps lulled him back to sleep.

Kagome smiled wistfully after them. Inuyasha had really grown up over the many years they spent together but still kept much of the rough outer shell that made him loveable. She packed up the box of previously used curtains and got up to put them down by the now abandoned desk before plopping lazily down in the chair with a content sigh.

She closed her eyes for a moment in comfortable bliss, glad for the day winding down and soon she'd be able to rest. She was pulled from her reverie by the sound of the door swinging open. She immediately straightened in her chair and silently berated herself for not putting the ladder away right away, it must make their place look unkempt.

"Konbanwa! How may I help you?", she said cheerfully.

The simple black-suit clad man turned his head towards her. His gaze unsettling because of the dark sunglasses granting him anonymity. He strolled up to her desk holding out a small sensor-like device with a periodically blinking light on the front of it and pointed it at her for a moment. Seemingly satisfied with the result her turned towards the stairs Inuyasha had just left through and made to go up.

"Hey! You can't go up there!", Kagome jumped up and went to stand in the strange man's way. "It's after hours anyway! You better leave you freak or I'll call the cops!"

An eerie smirk adorned his face at hearing her comment just before he roughly grabbed her arm with his free hand and threw her to the side before continue on his way.

"Inuyasha!", Kagome shouted for the hanyou to come to her aid.

/o.o\

"Mother, why must you insist on coming to pester me every 50 years like clockwork?", the tall figure slouched behind a dark wood desk spoke as he ran his hands over his face in exasperation.

The beautiful young figure across from him merely grinned. "Oh Sesshou-chan!", she cooed in a sickly sweet voice. "Now if only you would take a wife and give me grand-children I would have them to bother instead of you. I'm not getting any younger you know!"

He scrubbed his hands over his face in a frustrated manner. "Mother I was Lord of my lands for four hundred years and have been a thriving business man for the last three hundred you will use a proper name when addressing me. I am not a child. And I will take a wife and have children when I see fit, you do not age you need not worry about not seeing them."

His mother frowned at him. "Well you better see fit to it soon. Your eqiupment might not work for much longer after you let it collect dust for so long."

Sesshoumaru dropped his hands from his face and gaped at his mother in shock. The woman had no tact! And she was grinning at him like the Chesire cat too! He opened and closed his mouth a few times before regaining his composure. He had about enough of being his mother's source of entertainment for the evening.

"Mother what I do or do not do with my 'equipment'", he said the last word with a sneer, "is none of your-", he stopped abruptly and lifted his nose to the air.

His mother raised an eyebrow at him and turned her head to the door. The sounds of close to twenty men bounding their way up the staircase reaching their ears and none of their scents were familiar.

/o.o\

"Kagome what are you shoutin' for?! I just got that runt to bed!", Inuyasha's voice carried down the stairs as he came rushing back into the lobby.

His golden eyes immediately took in the sight of Kagome ten feet away sprawled out on the floor and the strange man in front of him holding a small electronic device with a now rapidly blinking light. All of the sudden a high pitched beeping noise emanated from the machine and Inuyasha clapped his hands over where his ears were hidden to block out the noise.

"What the hell is goin' on!", he shouted.

The man only continued to smirk as he motioned with his hand in a beckoning gesture towards the window. He pressed a button on the small device and watched as the hanyou before him aprubtly doubled up in pain.

Inuyasha sneered up at the man, knowing that whatever he had in his hand was causing this trouble. He lunged at him for an attack but the pain intensified as soon as he threatened the man. Inuyasha dropped to his knees clutching his chest as his concealment spell started to waver. His hair wavered between black and white for a moment before the spell failed.

Golden eyes glared hatefully up at the smirking man in black as the glass doors to the lobby shattered and thirty men rushed through, each clad in kevlar armor. Two rushed forward and grabbed the still stunned form of Kagome up from the floor and pulled her out of the way and towards the wall.

Kagome watched as everything seemed to move slower than before. There wasn't any sound, at least not coherent to her shocked senses. The man in the suit motioned for more men to come towards the hanyou on his knees, his mouth moving as if speaking but Kagome couldn't comprehend the words.

More men ran up the staircase to the children's rooms. It seemed like an eternity struggling against the men holding her and wondering what would happen and what was going on. Soon her silent questions were answered as the armor clad men started flowing out of the door and rushed through the lobby to armor clad wagons. Each held a screaming child in their arms, many of their concealment spells fading revealing an assorment of demon and hanyou children.

The five hundred and fifteen year old priestess struggled anew against the tight hold on her arms. She wrenched her shoulders back and forth and kicked her legs, heedless to the way joints twisted the wrong way and the bruising hands that held tight to her arms. They were just keeping her from her children and she needed to save them. She wasn't sure of the truth behind what was happening but it was wrong and she had to get it to stop.

Inuyasha struggled equally as vigorously against the hold on him. One man held onto each one of his limbs and the man in the suit was still holding the elctronic sensor in front of him that seemed to interupt the flow of his youki rendering his youkai strength and attacks useless. He growled and snarled and fought as he watched the crying orphans, he had only moments before ensured he would find happy homes, be carried away for Kami knows what purpose.

In his frustration at the futility of the situation his youkai blood was fighting to come forth triggered by his fighting instinct.

/o.o\

Sesshoumaru stood and stalked over to stand in a crouched position behind his office door and motioned for his mother to stay put. She merely huffed at him and stood, placing her fur stole on her chair for safe keeping, before readying her iridescent, violent, energy whip. As the scrambling footsteps came closer Sesshoumaru loosened his fingers and cracked his knuckles in preperation to release his posion while his mother dropped back into a ready-stance.

The door burst open and men dressed head-to-toe in black kevlar armor flooded into the twenty by twenty room. Soon the scent of sizzling plastic filled the air. Corrosive-poison-weilding claws and whips of light met kevlar in a flurry of action.

The armor protected the men for a few moments before one raised his forearm and pressed down on his wrist. Sesshoumaru cringed as an odd sensation engulfed his skin and he vaguely heard a choking noise come from his mother before his attention was stolen away. His hand had stopped glowing and he couldn't will his poison back to the surface, in a similar situation his mother no longer had her youki whip out.

Something hard slapped over his chest in his moment of confusion, he looked down to see a metal bar curled around his torso and upper arms, pinning them to his sides. He scoffed at the foolish humans before tensing his muscles and preparing to tear through their flimsy metal. Nothing happened... He tried and tried but each time he called forth the youki to break free the strange tingling sensation over his body turned into pricks, then throbbing, then finally a searing pain before he was forced to stop.

He heard his mother scream and threw his head around trying to search her out in the maniacal scuffle. He saw her being pushed farther from him by human men using things that looked like cattle-prods but he could tell they disrupted their youki in a way similar to the first device. She cringed and stepped back with a pained expression as she began to curl in upon herself. He roared and tried to rush through the mass of men to get to her but suddenly long pole's were being attached to the metal already binding his arms.

Soon he was attached being held two-arms-lengths away from all of the humans by six men, one on each pole. He was sickenly reminded of a dog-catcher's pole as he struggled against them and tried to get free. His hands were bound now, he didn't remember how it happened. They started shoving him through the door to his own office and down the stairs they came. Whenever he struggled to much they would use the cattle-prod devices to quiet him.

In the mass of confusion as he struggled one phrase suddenly stood out against everything. It echoed through the white-cement walled stairwell until it would be forever be burned into his mind.

A deep voice shouted up the stairs, "We only need one, kill the other youkai." And then he heard his mother scream.

He struggled harder and harder trying to get back up the stairs to her but the shocks of stolen youki in his muscles from the prodding eventually made him complacent and he was forced further and further away from his dieing mother.

/o.o\

The sounds of screaming and crying children were now muffled by the armored walls of the wagons they had been thrown into. The men that had been holding Kagome dropped her haphhazardly to the floor before leaving. She scrambled on hands and knees to get closer to Inuyasha, who was now pinned to the ground with men holding his arms and men sitting on his back. His eyes were now red with pale blue irises and he had completely lost himself to his youkai mind. As she neared him she desperately tried to think of a way to change him back now that he no longer wore his subjugation beads from the last time this happened. She kept trying to ignore the dull humm of voices in the background so she could think.

"What do we do with this one?", one man shouted from Inuyasha's back.

"He is Hanyou. They're no good once they've lost themselves. Put the beast down.", came the cold unfeeling voice of the man in the black suit as he left through the door of the orhanage leaving the men to do the deed.

The cold black muzzle of a gun was pushed to the side of Inuyasha's head as he was held down. Kagome watched, trying to voice the words in her head, trying to tell them to stop. The tiny croak from her throat was easily drowned out by the mechanical deafening boom of the gun.

The men got up, wiping arms and hands free of Inuyasha's blood on his shirt while he lay on the floor. Lifeless gold eyes stared back at Kagome's numb gaze. Blood seeped over his face and onto the ground, the side of his skull gaped open slowly loosing pieces of his now useless brain onto the ground. Kagome dropped to her knees and crawled toward him, her lips quivering in shock.

"Inu... Oh, Inu..", she whispered as she reached his side. She pressed her hand into the wound, mindlessly trying to stem the flow of blood as she let out dry sobs, her body too shocked to produce tears. "Don't worry.. Don't worry..", she cradled his head as she rocked back and forth, "It'll all be okay... this isn't real. Just watch, I'll go get your brother... Onii-san knows how to fix it...", she bit her lip as she layed him carefully back down. "I'll be back, just wait... It'll be all better Inuyasha..", with her last whispered promise she ran out of the opening in the wall and ran for Sesshoumaru's office building.

She ran down the darkened streets as fast as she could. The dark shadows danced around her in the few streetlights. She could see more armored cars around, commontions every where. The whole city looked like the image of the apocalypse: chaos, people running around. Some were looting, some were crying, many screaming and fighting as their previously known or unknown demonic family members were dragged away.

She reached the block of Sesshoumaru's office building and breathed out a relieved sigh. This place would be safe. Only half a block away now, she was almost there.

"Kagome!", a familiar voice shouted from behind her though the desperation tainting the normal confidence unnerved her. She spun around to see Kouga running towards her, he looked like he was stuggling and she could tell there was something wrong with his leg. "Hide Kagome!", he shouted to her.

She started him towards him, intent on trying to help. Her eyes widened and she took a step back as she saw the armored men running behind him, they were after him too. One was pointing a big gun at his back. Trying to stop a repeat of earlier events she reached her hand out to him, "Kouga, watch out!", she shouted.

He craned his head to follow her eyes behind him just in time to see a net shoot from the wide barrel of the gun. The weights attached to the edges of the net pulled the thick material over him, forcing him to the ground. "Kagome, run!", he shouted to her as he pulled and slashed at the net he was entangled in, the material never yielding to his sharp claws.

She turned to run back towards Sesshoumaru's office building only to see his tall, bound form struggling against a group or armored men as they pushed him into a thick armored car. She held her hands over her mouth to muffle her screams as she backed against a wall in a nearby alleyway. Tears clouded her eyes as her only hope was dragged away. His crimson colored eyes locked with hers for a moment and she could feel the angry desperation and hate course through her body. She curled her knees to her chest as he was pushed from her sight and hid her face.

She didn't know how much later she stopped crying but she did. Her only thoughts that she had to make sure the inu brothers swords were safe. She stumbled to her feet and went into the empty and destroyed office building. Stumbling her way up the staircase, she barely noticed the cracks, dents, and holes in the walls as she ran for the top floor.

Standing in the door way to his office she looked around at the wreck the normally immaculate space was in. The desk lay overturned and broken o the floor. The chairs were strewn across the room. Plants lay on their sides, tipping their dirt onto the carpet. She let out a dry sob and covered her mouth with her hand to muffle the sound as she stumbled over to the painting she knew his vault was behind.

She dropped to her knees and covered her eyes against the sight that met her on the other side of the wrecked desk. There lay Inukimi, bloodied on the ground her elegant dress torn and shredded.

"Kimi-sama...", Kagome whispered brokenly into the quiet room. Her thoughts ran rampant in her mind. Why? Why was all this happening? Who was doing it.. who was behind it all? Why all of her friends and family... and why leave her behind and take them all away? She was all alone now... She opened her eyes again to look at the body of her Onii-san's mother. She bit her lip and heaved a dry sob again, there wasn't a single tear left in her body.

She crawled on all fours towards her. As she got closer she noticed the tiny bubbles coming from the gash over her throat, belying the fact that she wasn't truly dead yet. "Kimi-sama?", she whispered again.

Silvery grey eyes opened to see her leaning over them. Inukimi smiled. "Shikon Priestess..", her gurgled voice came.

Kagome held onto one of her hands with both of her and clutched it tight. She knew Inukimi wasn't long for this world but Kagome wanted to make sure she knew she wouldn't pass alone. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I'm sorry", Kagome's voice rang through the empty room over and over again. She knew it was all her fault, she couldn't do anything to stop her friends from being taken. She couldn't do anything to help anyone... She really was useless somtimes...

Inukimi's head lolled back and forth as if shaking her head 'no'. "Promise me...", she gurgled again. She had to say this before she died.. She need reassurance that things would be taken care of after she was gone. "Promise... make sure he's okay...", more bubbled came up through the slash in her throat as she spoke and her voice became more watery as the blood seeped into her airways. "Keep him safe... Kagome...", she quieted then, wishing to live her last few moments in silence before her soul left her body.

"I promise... I promise...", Kagome whispered back as she rocked back and forth. She watched Inukimi's eyes close and her chest ceased to rise and fall. Kagome pulled Sesshoumaru's coat from where it had been thrown off the rack onto the floor and layed it over her silent form.

Not able to stand sitting there any longer she leapt to her feet and threw the painting off of the wall. She turned the dial, entering the combination Sesshoumaru had taught her and Inuyasha in case of emergencies. Inside the vault lay their swords, all placed on silk cushions. She reached forward and grabbed hold of Tenseiga and Tessaiga. She hesitated only a moment before reaching for Bakusaiga, the barrier around it fluttered and then let her past as it recognized her.

She turned to run from the office with the swords held tight to her chest. She saw Inukimi's fur stole laying crumpled on the floor and realised she couldn't just leave it there. She quickly wrapped it around the swords and turned to run again. She ran and ran until she reached her family's shrine. She ran past the house and the shrine building to throw the doors to the well house open. She closed the door behind her and ran to the corner of the room and curled in on herself.

Through the gaps in the slats she could see the tiny rays of lilac light as the sun prepared to rise. How dare it just go on as if nothing happened when the world was falling apart around her. She sat there and cried again hoping maybe just one of her friends was exempt from this massacre.

Whew that took a long time to right... Thank you everyone for reading! I 3 Reviews.

Thank you so much to NyKitty for helping me get past my summary block on this story!

MontiK


	2. Saving the Lost

[Chapter 2] Working for the Greater Good is not Without Sacrifices Part 1?

~ Thanks so much for all your reviews ^^ There were alot of questions, I promise they'll e answered in the next few chapters. Ill give you a hint, Shippo's pretty much okay. The kids.. well sry FL.. most of them are okay? ^.^; hehe

On to the Chapter!

Looking down onto the gate to the compound Kiba could see a small procession being lead through the gates. The wolf youkai were chained in a strait line pushed on until they were past the gates. Then the guards that accompanied them were turned away as they were taken into the custody of the park. He noticed how the youkai became complacent as they passed the gates, their bodies still and their eyes dull.

Kiba turned to Kagome, her back was to him and she was writing something on her desk. "Lady Kagome are you..?", he trailed off.

She sighed as she continued writing, "Yes, Kiba. You know I have to.", she turned to look at him over her shoulder.

He nodded. Fidgeting with his long blue haori sleeves he walked to the side of her desk where his pillow was. The practice that he would sit on a pillow at her feet rather than a chair at her side was a sign of his status. He was, after all, her slave to all those outside their compound. He also didn't mind his cozy space beside her desk, he thought the tall high backed chairs were stuffy and uncomfortable. He leaned against the side of her desk, resting his head and closing his eyes. His shaggy black hair fell over his face. He wore old feudal style clothing, the fashions had digressed into more function than look.

He planned on taking a small nap, things had been slow lately. Kagome would work diligently under the facade of the owner of a park where wealthy humans could come to be entertained by youkai slaves. She would gather past friends and other unfortunate souls and keep safe as many beings as she could without drawing attention. His plan for a nap was interrupted when he felt a tiny tap on his shoulder and an envelope was held in front of him.

He glanced at the envelope as he took it, his brow furrowed in confusion. Normally he was her personal guard, not her message boy. Looking up at her, he was about to question what this was about but she merely shook her head to quiet him.

"You're the only one I trust with this, it's important. You'll have to pick someone up, return them here immediately. Where to find them is on the note. Now go.", she made a shooing motion with her hand and he left as told.

Trotting down the stairs he examined the outside of the envelope. It was quite thick, probably filled with money. The address was scribbled on the front for him, a little memo on the side. His eyes widened at what he saw and he hurried into a run, leaping down the stairs and out the front gate. She had finally been able to aquire him after nearly five-hundred years! He pulled his youki around him and used to push himself off the ground, he would fly to his destination and arrive with the utmost haste.

/o.o\

Kiba landed at the base of a long set of stairs. In graceful leaps he ascended to the holding pens. With no small amount of disgust he noticed that the grounds had been converted from an old shrine into pens for youkai slaves. At the top of the stairs he spotted a skittish little deer youkai dressed in maid's attire and handed her his letter.

Her long oval shaped ears swiveled about her head constantly and her hands shook as she took the letter. Thinking she was afraid of him because he was a species of predatory youkai he reigned in his aura, pulling it tightly around him. She still fidgeted, looking at the envelope and then skittering off without a word. Her wide green eyes darted back and forth as she went. Kiba waited in the courtyard.

It didn't take long before he heard raucous laughter coming from the main building and the doors burst open in front of him. Two human guards came through the doors, bantering loudly back and forth and laughing with one another. Kiba noticed how the little deer girl pressed herself to the door cowering away from the men, and he deduced it was them she must have been worried about earlier.

His attention was drawn back to the men when they threw a filthy blanket wrapped bundle down a small set of steps to roll at Kiba's feet. The sickening thud as it hit the concrete steps made him cringe. All thoughts of the maid's turmoil at the hands of the guards was lost as the blanket fell open to reveal it's package. Pale grey skin pulled taught over protruding cheekbones, Sesshoumaru looked like death. Kiba's keen ears picking the dull distant thud of his heart told him he was still alive, but not long for this world.

With a glare at the clearly amused guards he knelt down to pick up the limp body. He wished he could seek some retaliation without political repercussions, but knew it was impossible. He pulled his youki around himself and once again took the skies with haste, he hoped Lady Kagome would know how to save him. One didn't wait five hundred years to see someone again to give them a funeral.

/o.o\

Sprinting up the stone staircase to Lady Kagome's office, Kiba tried not to jostle Sesshoumaru too much. The man was all skin and bones and felt like he could break any moment. Reaching her door, she was already standing there waiting for him. They swept off to a private room beside Kiba's.

After Sesshoumaru was lain on the cot Kagome pulled the filthy blanket from him and threw it to the floor, "Get that filthy thing out of here!", she hissed. Kiba was quick to comply.

Looking the pale-skinned form over she immediately noticed the pair of shackles binding his wrists. They were tight, cutting into the flesh. The thick metal looked extremely heavy and she doubted he would have been able to lift his hands. Reaching over to him, she carefully held the shackles up for inspection.

There was something strange about them, the emanated a sort of old energy. Holding them for a while, she felt an odd pull, as if it were taking something from inside her. The soon reached the conclusion that the shackles were responsible for putting the daiyoukai in such a state. They somehow stole youki and they were taking more than Sesshoumaru could give up.

Just as Kiba came back into the room after getting rid of the blanket she turned to him, "Get Kouga to fetch Totosai." She spoked with urgency and he dashed off to fetch them.

As she waited she started pressing towels dampened with warm water to his skin, he was filthy and his body was growing cold from the lack of energy. His breathing was so faint she feared she might lose him before they ever got the shackles off.

Pressing the damp towel to his forehead and wetting his dried lips, she took in the raspy quality of his breath. "Don't go..", she whispered her plea to him. She had grown stoic and cold like he once was, but seeing him like this hurt her deeply. The close calls, little saves, and subtle negotiations she made over the years to bring him back to her couldn't end in a frivolous death like this. She had promised his mother and she had to make sure he was safe.

Lost in her musings of years passed she was startled as the door to the room flew open. Kiba ran in flanked by Kouga who carried the flustered Totosai on his back. The grimace from Kouga and the horrified gasp from Totosai only made her ache more for the condition Sesshoumaru was in. Numbly she went about preparing herbs and keeping him warm while Totosai examined the shackles with a grave expression on his face.

After hours of carefully placed puffs of flames and incantations and chants Kagome had never heard, even in her long life, the shackles loosened before falling to the floor. A muttered curse from Totosai and Kagome quickly got to tending the wounds on Sesshoumaru's wrists.

The rest of the night and into the next day was a blur of preparing herbs, making sure he was warm, and taking turns watching over him. Kouga stayed off in the corner beside Totosai and when Kiba watched over Sesshoumaru Kagome would join them to speak of the mysterious shackles.

It was concluded that they were old relics someone most likely found and used without the knowledge of how to remove them. Wanting to get some money on the seemingly dead demon they sold and resold him until he was at deaths door and reached Kagome's hands.

By night of his second day their Sesshoumaru was merely in a recuperative sleep, his youki no longer being drained was now healing his worn body. From time to time he would roll over in bed or groan in his sleep but otherwise he had not woken, and most likely didn't know of his new home.

Kagome stood from her seat by the wall. Totosai had recently left to return to his spot atop the mountain at the edge of her lands and Kouga was asleep. "Kiba, will you watch him for the night?", Kagome asked quietly so she wouldn't disturb the two sleeping demons.

"My Lady.. you haven't slept in two fortnight.. would it not be best if Kouga watch over him so that I may accompany you?", Kiba asked in a worried tone. Kagome no longer needed sleep often because of the power she siphoned from the Shikon Jewel within her made the practice unnecessary, but when she did sleep she always refused to do so without someone watching her. Some of the side affects of her uses of the jewel could get out of hand when uncontrolled during her slumber and she needed someone nearby to wake he in case something happened.

She shook her head, "I trust you to watch him, Kiba. I'll be fine, I have gone longer without rest." With that she slipped from the lamp lit room into the darkened hallway and off to her own chambers.

Slipping into her night clothes Kagome sighed. She had been remiss in her duties the night before while she tended to Sesshoumaru. Many years she had perfected the use of the Jewel's power to her own needs. She had learned how the jewel would control youkai and make them mindless, and she bent the power to her own will and could now control youkai with it. She could slip into their minds as well, taking thoughts and memories and replacing them with something of her own creation.

Each night since she had begun to gather demons at her sanctuary she would slip into the minds of the sleeping and guard their dreams, taking the nightmares upon herself so they would sleep in peace. She hoped one night without her to watch them didn't hurt them.

Sitting in bed with her back against the head board she exhaled a calming breath. Emptying her mind of all errant thoughts she tapped into the jewel. Through it she expanded her senses. The keep and all it's rooms, then the courtyard outside, the small village that housed more demons, the forest, all could be reached in her minds eye. A soft touch against the aura of each sleeping creature and she could feel their sleeping emotions.

Sifting through the people she searched for the one's who needed her. The ones underneath her charge who's devils came to catch them in their sleep. Deep into the forest her mind pulled her. The monochromatic vision of a young looking boy laying on top of a tree branch came to her mind. She saw him, monkey tail curled around the tree for balance and his long clawed fingers digging into the bark. His face twisted into a frightened expression and his sharp fangs gnawing into his bottom lip, she delved into his mind.

[I] _The metallic, cold interior of and armored truck loomed over the figures trapped inside it's walls. The door hung wide as children bearing demonic traits were thrown inside, screaming and crying out for parents and guardians alike. _

_Curled in the corner whimpering she could see the tiny form of Toboe. Tears streamed down his face as the other children crawled over one another to try and escape through the open door, each one thrust back into place when the reached the opening. _

_An older girl tried to comfort him, her quiet cooes, shushes, and assurances lost against the screaming __chaos in their metal prison. She rocked back and forth, holding him and shielding his eyes from the __sight of the madness unfolding in the streets. She let out a hiss as one of the children was thrown into her. She looked up to see a long metallic device emitting sparks thrust at her, pushing her further to the back of the truck. _

_Anger flashed in little amethyst eyes. Determination set in her face as she let go of the sobbing Toboe and stood. She ignored the insistent tugs and the begging from the young boy to sit back down and not to do anything. She was the oldest girl at the orphanage and when Inuyasha and Kagome couldn't keep them safe then she had to do it. _

_Her feet set in a fighting stance she lunged, leaping over the mass of children to the guards at the doors to the truck. A frightened cry of, "Chio!", fell upon deaf ears. The metallic black of the gun flashed before her eyes before the mechanic boom. _

_Toboe sat beside her limp body holding into her hand, he stared into her wide lifeless amethyst gaze and whimpered. Spots of her blood sprinkled across his shirt and face from the spatter of the shot. Laying down beside her dead body, Toboe found restless exhausted sleep._

Coming back to herself Kagome reached up to wipe the moisture from face. She didn't have the right to cry when she failed to save him from having to see the deaths of his bunkmates. The best she could do now was to take the memories each night and save him from reliving them by taking them as her own.

After a few moments she brought her mind back into a still, calm state. Reaching into the Jewel again she went about searching through the crowd of aura. This time, she followed a heavy, insistent pull, much closer then that of Toboe's. A few rooms away, lay Sesshoumaru on his bed. His features, smooth and placid, belied nothing of his inner turmoil but his aura cried. The call of his youki begged for peace long denied and she followed like a frightened child to it's call. Whether she was ready to face what she failed to save him from or not he needed her.

_A group of men stood a vast dark room. Growling and snarling could be heard as they all fought, pulling and wrenching on long ropes. Soon a tall white hair figured was wrenched from the stone cell he was kept in. He was unable to pull of the ropes as his hands were bound behind his back. His crimson eyes promised a painful torture if he were to ever get loose of their hold._

_They pulled him towards a steel bench. The wide apparatus had two higher planes that one could be easily bound to. Sesshoumaru pressed his heels into the ground, fighting back against their tugs and pulls. His youkai strength suppressed by the mechanical devices in the walls was little use and he was easily overpowered. _

_His shins hit against the edge of the metal bench, throwing him off balance. The humans took advantage of this, the one holding the rope around his neck pulled forward and the ones holding his arms followed suit. He fell onto the table, his shoulder hitting the sharp raised platform and he growled at the pain of bones being bruised. _

_Soon he was bound to the table, his knees tied together and held to the second raised platform on the table. His feet were bound to the edge of the table, his body held completely immobile. Sesshoumaru growled, snarled, and hissed viciously as one neared his back but his warning went unheeded. _

_A pained howl reverberated against the walls when the man in the white coat thrust a long thin object into his anus. Sesshoumaru bit down on the metal table as a shocking sensation over took his nether regions. A man stood in front of him, collecting his seed and then taking it away to be stored. When they were done with him they threw him back into his stall, this time his forming unmoving and he put up no fight as he was dragged and tossed carelessly onto the concrete floor. _

The last Kagome saw in her minds' eye was his crumpled form on the ground before the vision rippled and swam. Slowly it faded into another...

_Sesshoumaru stood in a thirty foot wide ring, fifteen foot high concrete walls surrounding him on all sides. No doubt they were equipped with mechanical devises to keep him and the other youkai inside the ring. His stance was heavy and strained, his breath hoarse. Cuts and slashes decorated his raggedly clothed form. He was angry, desperate, and ready to defend himself._

_Outside the ring were seats all set up arena style. They were filled to capacity with people shouting, booing, cheering, yelling out jeers and bets. Higher up rich men in dark suits, sipping expensive sake watched from box seats. _

_His next opponent entered the ring. Her blue hair hung in waves down to her knees and her angular features set in a cold mask. She stood still, staring down Sesshoumaru. She nodded once._

_Lunging forward he leaped above her head and landed hard, pinning her to the ground while sitting on her torso. She stared at him, her expression one of resignation. One of his hands pressed flat to her sternum he pulled the other one back. His finger tips held together and his hand ready to slice her head clean off in one stroke. He hesitated._

_The world had come to this, hundreds of years their clan fought and for many more they were allies. These years had long passed now and here they fought for their own lives, no loyalties and no allies. _

"_I am sorry... Touran", Sesshoumaru spoke just loud enough for her to here._

_Her cold expression melted and she gifted him with a watery smile, "Do not be sorry Milord... It is a blessing...", at that his hand shot forward slicing through the air poised for her throat._

_Sesshoumaru snarled as he was pulled back from killing her. Being dragged backwards he watched as handlers came from doors on the ring to Touran's still form. She curled in on herself as she received kicks and heavy blows for her failure to fight properly. _

_A pained howl echoed through the stadium, singing of the helplessness of a once proud and powerful Daiyoukai._

Biting her lip to keep from whimpering Kagome opened her eyes. The first rays of morning peeked through the curtains. She slipped her feet over the side of the bed and set them on the cold floor. Today she would have to face her her failure and begin to rebuild the Sesshoumaru that once was.

[part 2]


	3. Saving the Lost: Part 2

Saving the Lost[part 2]

The blurred image of the ceiling greeted his groggy eyes. With a groan Sesshoumaru put his hand to his forehead. He wondered who had cursed him so that he would ever have to wake again. Distant voices reached his ears.

"He's waking up..", he heard a gruff masculine voice.

"Yes, Lady Kagome has asked me to introduce him when he is well enough..", another masucline voice but smoother than the first.

Turning his head to the side Sesshoumaru tried to see who was in the room with him. He noticed the pinch of pain in his neck, but noticed it was subsided quickly as his muscles healed. He could hardly remember the last time he was allowed to rest and heal...

He squinted his eyes and his vision started to clear. The fog of his deep sleep slowly drifted away. He could make out someone tall with shaggy black hair, wearing a blue top and white hakama. The man standing beside him had longer black hair and was wearing all brown. There was something familiar about him.

"Kouga", Sesshoumaru rasped as he noticed the scent of the wolf-demon.

"Hey big guy", Koga said softly, mindful of the fact the Daiyoukai probably had a hell of a head ache. "We thought you were a goner.."

Sesshoumaru frown as the wolf walked towards him, there was a strange metallic clicking, like tiny gear and pistons when the wolf walked. It stopped when he sat down but he couldn't figure out where the noise was coming from.

Kouga frowned as well, noticing the twitch in Sesshoumaru's pointed ears and taking a guess as to the sound he was honing in on. "I'll explain later, Sesshoumaru... you need rest now, just chill."

Turning his head Sesshoumaru noticed the large window right beside his bed. Eastern exposure he noticed, the heat of the rising sun warmed the blankets on his bed. It felt good, he hadn't been allowed sunlight in so long. He was always kept in cold dark kennels and the arenas never had windows.

"Where is this?", he asked after staring out over the forest for a long while. He hadn't seen trees and forests for even longer.

"The Lady Kagome's keep", the smooth voice from earlier answered.

He scowled at the mention of her name. That wasn't what he was hoping to hear. The last time he saw her replayed itself in his mind. The way she cowered and hid rather then fight for her family. The thoughts of her deception made a sour taste on his tongue.

"Lady Kagome is very kind..", Kiba trailed off hesitantly. The low thrumming growl spoke volume's of Sesshoumaru's displeasure but he knew they were previously acquainted. Why would the mention of her name make him so angry? "I didn't think so at first either..", he ventured further.

Sesshoumaru lay his head back down on the bed. He didn't have the energy to argue so much now. He closed his eyes and listened. Kiba's smooth voice, despite what he was saying, it was nice to listen to. It had been so long since he was allowed to speak with anyone. So he would just rest and listen now.

"Lady Kagome said the government kept you for quite a while after your capture. They didn't keep me very long. I was auctioned off for study by private corporations.", Kiba's voice was a strong and measured, he spoke in a very matter of fact tone like this was all information from a book. "After they finished studying me I was sold from the stables. I think in all it was almost fifty years before I was allowed out of their labs.", a smile crossed his face as he gazed out the window while he spoke. Kouga was silent as well, listening as he had never heard Kiba talk about his past much. No one around them really talked about their past, no one wanted to remember.

"I remember.. sitting in a pen when I first saw her..", his tone nostalgic and his eyes distant, Kiba was lost in his memory.

_Looking out over the bustle in the old market place his eyes met with electric blue. The woman had a scarf around her neck and face, covering all from her eyes down. He felt weighed under her gaze, like he was being sized up and his worth being decided. He felt disdain boil in his gut that she would look at him like an object._

_As she walked closer to the man standing in front of his stall he started to feel funny. His body felt lighter and heavier all at once, his vision started to fog. He felt like he wasn't in control anymore, as if he were watching the vision before him on an old movie reel and not from his own eyes. _

_He saw her speaking with his owner, negotiating, then she handed him money. When she looked at him again everything started to fade. Suddenly he wasn't sitting in a dirty pen anymore, it was a meadow in a forest. Lush grass beneath his feet and vibrant colors swirled all around him. He laid back into the grass and reveled in the warm feel of sunlight on his face. _

_He didn't think to question how he got there until he was pulled from his dream like place._

_He could see a long set of stairs now. He could turn his head to look around but the rest of his body wasn't under his control. He walked up the steps following behind the girl from the marketplace. Off in the forest to one side of the steps he could see and old broken sign that read "Higurashi"._

_As he reached the top of the steps he felt the weight on his limbs leave him and his body was his own again. He glared and growled at the girl as she turned to him._

"_You can't keep me here..", he growled, ready to run. No longer under her trance he had the capability to kill her and flee. He didn't want to be studied or kept like someone's pet anymore._

_She shrugged, "Run away if you like, but you're welcome to stay. Out there I can't guarantee what they will do if they catch you, where the will take you. Here you are safe and free to roam." She turned from him then and walked back into the old house on the grounds._

_He decided to stay. He would stay in the woods and watch her from the trees, always staying close but never approaching. Finally she approached him one day._

_She never asked more than for him to accompany her out of the grounds. Having a guard gave her the facade of a wealthy land owner and she started building on her disguise of a youkai park owner. _

By the time Kiba was finished Sesshoumaru had drifted back into the land of dreams.

Kagome stood outside the room, leaning against the door. She smiled at Kiba's retelling of their first year together. For a while they hadn't gotten along but with just the two of them living at the old shrine they learned to tolerate each other's company and became friends. He was the first youkai she had the chance to save from the hard life of a slave.

Her brow furrowed at the memory of Sesshoumaru's reaction to learning he was in her keep. She expected the cold and aloof Sesshoumaru yes, but what she received was another thing entirely. His aura spoke of pain and desperation and through his dreams she relived his every loss. She had the feeling he wouldn't have minded not waking up from his forced slumber.

Wincing at the idea of him giving up on life so completely, she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. The daiyoukai was in a peaceful slumber now, no nightmares for her to steal away. She crept into his mind, searching for traces of herself and looking for the cause of his hatred.

She could see herself hiding while he was being hauled away. Her and Inuyasha sitting together while they were at dinner. Them at the apartment practicing the beginnings of concealment spells. Different spaces of time and small flashes raced through her mind. Nothing told her what evoked such feelings in him though.

For now she wouldn't be able to approach him. He would be to volatile towards he and she wanted him to be able to socialize with the other people there before putting so much stress on him. Sweeping down the hall in a billowy mass of of wide hakama and her thick cloak she went of back to her office. She resigned herself to watching his progress from afar.

/o.o\

He woke to the soft clicking noise of metal gently touching the concrete floor. The same masculine voices from the last time he woke whispered in the cool morning air.

"Jinenji made some more herbal tea.", wood hit against wood and the clatter of china met his ears.

Sesshoumaru grunted and put his hand to his forehead. When he moved to sit up there was a hand at his back to help him. He nodded his thanks and leaned against the wall beside his futon. Looking to his side Sesshoumaru could make out features more clearly now. Sharp blue eyes stared back into his, shaggy dark hair fell messily over narrow features. Predatory youkai, Sesshoumaru surmised, dog if guessed right as well.

"We have not been introduced...", Sesshoumaru mumbled. His body was no longer at deaths gate, more like the morning right after a battle so there was only a dull ache and a little rasp in his voice.

"Kiba", he replied simply, "and this is..", he motioned towards Kouga but was interrupted by Sesshoumaru.

"We are acquainted. Though it has been some time since we last met.", Sesshoumaru's eyes swept over Kouga. He took in the changes in his face and eyes, they were more drawn and a little less jovial.

He turned his gaze out the window before he spoke again, "Now.. this is Lady Kagome's keep?" Her name came slowly from his lips, taking time to keep the malice from his voice and testing the title on his tongue.

Kiba nodded with a smile on his face, taking this as improvement from Sesshoumaru's earlier attitude. "Yes, there are many youkai here as well. The Lady Kagome takes in as many youkai as she can to shield from the outside world. It is a safe haven here..", he trailed off from his enthusiastic rant, "she worked very hard to find you... for many years..", he continued softly.

He was not prepared for the deep wall quivering snarl that erupted from the being on the bed. Fangs bared and eyes glowing with malice Sesshoumaru threw his feet over the side of the bed and attempted to stand. "That traitorous bitch!", he hissed emphatically, "has never done anything good for youkai!" Kouga held him up by his arm as he wavered on his feet. Kiba stood abruptly and bared his fangs in return to Sesshoumaru's threatening stance.

Kiba fought to keep his anger under control. It wouldn't do to attack the daiyoukai, but it was hard to stomach such an insult to his lady. He watched with no small amount of satisfaction when Sesshoumaru wavered and fell back onto the bed with a 'plop', the abrupt motion having dizzied him.

Smirking malevolently at the weakened Daiyoukai he decided he could retaliate in a passive aggressive manner. "Since you seem to be well enough to stand I'll show you around the keep.", he turned and walked to the door, "I will wait for you outside.", her threw over his shoulder before leaving.

Shaking his head Kouga turned to the tray he brought in earlier and took a cup of tea from it, "Drink this it'll take the edge off the aches.", he said handing the cup to Sesshoumaru.

Wordlessly accepting the cup, Sesshoumaru took a few sips. It dulled his senses a bit, fuzzying the world around him but he assumed that was a simple side affect as was so often true with remedies for pain. Kouga was silent sitting before him. The wolf didn't want to say anything that would upset him knowing he was a bit temperamental at the moment.

Gazing at the wolf's legs Sesshoumaru's mind was riddled with questions. The clinking and humming of gears and cogs had never stopped and he remembered when Kouga walked it sounded like metal on the floors rather than the soft padding of feet.

A clawed hand swept through jet black hair awkwardly, "I figured you would ask about that soon...", Kouga wasn't deterred by the mildly surprised look on the Daiyoukai's face. Who wouldn't notice where he was staring? "When the government took me for study... they wanted to know why I was so fast," looking up at Sesshoumaru's face he could tell he was listening intently but still somewhat befuddled, "How much do you know about what happened? I mean.. what was going on before they started rounding up youkai.."

Shaking his head Sesshoumaru replied simply, "Nothing." He was kept in absolute seclusion since they took him, first in labs, then in pens, and when they had him fighting in rings no one was focused on explaining to him why he was there.

"They were studying us for years... They had pictures, video clips everything..," Kouga sighed and ruffled his hair in frustration at the mere thought of all he had seen. "Little slips ups, when someone used their speed for convenience, moments where concealment spells slipped. I guess all the humans that did see little things and report them.. there was enough to cause an investigation.

"First it was a few youkai missing and we never noticed, but that's how they figured out how to make those devices that suppress our energy. Then they decided to capture more for study, then despite that we'd left the humans alone we were deemed dangerous. They captured as many as they could then the 'youkai-control-devices' were sold on the open market." Kouga scratched the back of his head as he paused, staring with a forlorn expression at his hakama clad legs. "Anyway.. you were wondering about these weren't you?" He pulled back the pant leg revealing a brass colored prosthetic leg. The gears spun lively, glistening in the sunlight through the open window. It was shaped more like the back leg of a dog rather than the humanoid legs he sported before.

"They wanted to study the muscles, they wondered why I was so fast.. So they started with biopsies, taking samples. Looked at the bone marrow, bone structure, blood work. We're remarkably similar to humans in bodily makeup.. and when they couldn't find any reason they just kept looking. Until they just amputated the legs and grafted them onto a human.. like a freaky science project ya'know," Kouga laughed sardonically at the last part, "and it still didn't even work... the human was just a little stronger but he couldn't run as fast as me.

"These are pretty good though..," He stretched the false limb, the pumps made a soft hissing noise sliding back and forth. "I can even jump a little higher than before," Kouga hopped to his feet, his pant leg sliding back down hiding all but the shiny brass paw from view. "You finished?"

Sesshoumaru nodded placing the tea cup back on the tray and getting to his feet. He wasn't near as wobbly and could walk on his own now. He looked down, noticing he had been redressed in clean clothing, a loose white haori and grey hakama. His hair was combed and pulled back, and it looked like someone had bathed him since he didn't still have the scent of that filthy dungeon clinging to him.

"C'mon pretty boy we got some people that want to see you," Kouga joked in an attempt to lighten the solemn mood. He gently took the crook of Sesshoumaru's arm and led him to the door. Outside they were met by a stoic Kiba who only started walking down hall, silently telling them to follow, without so much as a greeting.


End file.
